Safety shields for instruments on tripods



Aug. 8, 1967 M. s. COREY 3,334,856

SAFETY SHIELDS FOR INSTRUMENTS ON TRIPODS Filed April 17, 1964 1.\'\ 'ENTOA. MOI/CURE .5. C025) A 77'02/VEX United States Patent 3,334,856 SAFETY SHIELDS FOR INSTRUMENTS 0N TRIPODS Moncure S. Corey, Franklin Lakes, N.J., assignor t0 Charvoz-Roos Corporation, Clifton, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Apr. 17, 1964, Ser. No. 360,545 10 Claims. (Cl. 248-466) This invention relates to safety shields for instruments on tripods.

Surveying instruments or the like instruments on tripods sometimes are used on highways, bridges, vehicular roads or construction jobs. This practice has caused accidents resulting from motorists running into the tripod and sometimes hurting the operator of the instrument, because the motorist fails to see the instrument.

It is hence an object of this invention to provide a safety shield to be placed on the tripod, which shield shall have high visibility so that motorists would more easily see it and hence avoid running into either the instrument or its operator.

Another object of this invention is to provide a safety signalling shield of the character described having means to facilitate its mounting on the tripod, means to resiliently grip the head of the tripod so as not to slip down on the legs when the tripod is closed, and means to permit the legs of the tripod to open up varying degrees and yet resiliently grip said legs.

Still another object of this invention is to provide an improved shield of the character described comprising panels of high visibility cloth, adapted to be located between the legs, and having openings to lessen wind resistance.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a strong and durable device of the character described which shall be relatively inexpensive to manufacture, easy to apply and remove from the instrument, which shall not interfere with adjustment of the angle of the legs of the tripod, which shall be attractive in appearance, and yet practical and eflicient to a high degree in use.

Other objects of this invention will in part be obvious and in part hereinafter pointed out.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements, and arrangement of parts, which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter described, and of which the scope of the invention will be indicated in the following claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which is shown an illustrative embodiment of the invention,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shield of safety signal device embodying the invention and shown on a tripod and drawn in dot lash lines;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged top plan view of a device embodying the invention;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial front elevational view of a device embodying another form of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 66 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view taken on line 7-7 of FIG. '6.

Referring now in detail to the drawing, 10 designates a shield or safety signal device embodying the invention, and 11 designates a usual tripod for a surveying or other instrument. The tripod 11 has a head 12 and legs 13 hinged to the head and swingable outwardly to different angular positions, as is well known.

The shield or device 10 comprises a top elastic ring 15 Patented Aug. 8, 1967 to which is attached to the upper apex ends of three similar panels 16 symmetrically arranged about the axis of the tripod with the ends of the bases of said panels interconnected by elastic cords 18. The panels are equilateral triangles in shape.

The ring 15 may comprise a braided elastic cord, the ends of which are firmly attached together by a metal sleeve clamp 20 receiving the ends of the cord. The sleeve 20 may comprise a split sleeve with prongs 21.

The panels 16 are all similar and symmetrically disposed about the vertical axis of said shield. Each panel 16 comprises a triangular piece 23 of cloth such as drill or other flexible sheeting, coated at its outer side with high visibility material, of such color as flame orange. The coating may he of fluorescent material. One such coated cloth is sold by Cooley, Incorporated of Pawtucket, R.I. under mark Aristolon and stock number SCDR-304, coated with a polyvinyl chloride.

The side inclined edge portions 24 of the triangular piece of cloth 23, make similar angles with its base edge portion 25. Said side edge portions are wrapped about stays 26, inwardly and stitched back by seams 27. The stays 26 may be made of plastic, or wood, and may also be made of non-magnetic metal. These stays stilfen the the panels, so that the panels dont gather and remain open and fiat. 1

The base edge portion 25 is folded inwardly and upwardly to form a fold, and it is stitched back in place by a pair of parallel seams 30, 31.

The stilfeners 26 of each panel 16 are spaced apart at the upper apex end of the panel. The upper apex end 32 of each panel extends up beyond the upper ends of said stitfeners. Said upper end 32 however is folded down inwardly, and attached to the body of the panel by an eyelet 33.

Extending through each eyelet 33 is a split closed metal ring 34 through which the upper elastic ring 15 passes, thus the ring 15 is slidable through said rings 34 to permit quick and easy adjustment of the panels to correct position on the tripod without changing the position of ring 15.

At the lower outer corners of each panel are eyelets 35. Through the adjacent eyelets 35 of adjacent corners of each pair of adjacent panels is the elastic cord 18. Said cord may also comprise braided elastic. The ends of each cord 18 are passed through an eyelet and looped back with the loop closed by a split sleeve clamp 39. Each loop 39 is looped about the lower end of one of the covered stiifeners or stays 26.

Each triangular piece of cloth 23 may be formed with a plurality of large holes or openings 40 preferably centrally located between the triangular sides of the panel to lessen wind resistance so that the tripod is not likely to be blown over by the wind.

The elastic cord 15 permits the device to be quickly fitted over the head of a tripod. It will accommodate tripods of different head sizes.

Also, if the legs of the tripod are brought together, the device 10 will not slide down, because of the elasticity of ring 15.

The elastic cords 18 permit the legs of the tripod to be swung out to varying angles. The panels 16 are located between the legs of the tripod and are flat. Their high visibility will enable motorists to see the instrument more easily and hence accidents are more likely to be avoided. In FIGS. 5 to 7, there is shown a shield 10a embodying a modified form of the invention. Device 10a has a top ring 15, and three panels 16 same as described above. However in device 10a, the rings 34 are omitted and the ring 15 passes between the body portions of the cloths 23 and the folded over portions 32 of the panels and above the eyelets 33. Thus, the apex portions of the three panels slidably engage the ring 15.

Another difierence between devices and 10a is that in the latter, cords 39 are replaced by elastic braided cords 50, the ends of which pass inwardly through the eyelets, and attached to the ends 51 of each cord, and located at the inside of the panels 16, are split sleeve clamps 52 having tongue extensions 53. These clamps 52 prevent the ends of the cords 50 from pulling out of the eyelets.

It will thus be seen that there is provided a combination device in which the several objects of the present invention are achieved and which is well adapted to meet the conditions of practical use.

As possible embodiment might be made of the above invention, and as various changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is to be understood that all matter herein set forth or shown in the accompanying drawings is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

"I claim:

1. Incombination, a plurality of spaced panels arranged symmetrically about a common axis, said panels comprising sheets coated with high visibility coating at their outer surfaces, a ring connected to the upper ends of said panels, means to connect the adjacent lower ends of adjacent panels to each other said panels being triangular in shape, with their apexes at their upper ends, and said ring being elastic.

2. The combination of claim 1, said means to connect the adjacent lower ends of adjacent panels together, comprising elastic elements.

3. The combination of claim 2, said panels having stiifeners at the inclined sides of each panel.

4. A shield for a tripod comprising three similar equilateral triangular panels arranged symmetrically about a common axis with their apexes at their upper ends, and having outer high visibility surfaces, means to engage the upper apex ends of said panels, and means to interconnect adjacent panels each panel comprising a triangular sheet, and stiifeners at the angular sides of said sheet.

5. The combination of claim 4, the sheet of each panel having one or more holes to lessen wind resistance.

6. A shield for a tripod comprising three similar equilateral triangular panels arranged symmetrically about a common axis with their apexes at their upper ends, and having outer high visibility surfaces, means to engage the upper apex ends of said panels, and means to interconnect adjacent panels, said means to engage the upper apex ends of the panels comprising an annular ring and means at the upper apex ends of said panels to slidably engage said ring, said ring being elastic.

7. A shield for a tripod comprising three similar equilateral triangular panels arranged symmetrically about a common axis with their apexes at their upper ends, and having outer high visibility surfaces, means to engage the upper apex ends of said panels, and means to interconnect adjacent panels, said means to interconnect adjacent panels comprising elastic elements.

8. The combination of claim 6, said means to interconnect adjacent panels comprising elastic elements interconnecting the lower outer ends of each panel to adjacent panels.

9. The combination of claim 8 and stifl'eners at the inclined sides of each panel.

10. A safety signal device for a tripod having a head and legs hinged to said head, said device comprising a first means to engage the head of the tripod, panels attached to said first means and adapted to be located between said legs, and a second means interconnecting the lower ends of said panels and adapted to engage the outer sides of said legs of the tripod, said first means being elastic, and said second means comprising elastic elements.

' References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ROY D. FRAZIER, Primary Examiner.

I. F. FOSS, Assistant Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION, A PLURALITY OF SPACED ARRANGED SYMMETRICALLY ABOUT A COMMON AXIS, SAID PANELS COMPRISING SHEETS COATED WITH HIGH VISIBILITY COATING AT THEIR OUTER SURFACES, A RING CONNECTED TO THE UPPER ENDS OF SAID PANELS, MEANS TO CONNECT THE ADJACENT LOWER ENDS OF ADJACENT PANELS TO EACH OTHER SAID PANELS BEING TRIANGULAR IN SHAPE, WITH THEIR APEXES AT THEIR UPPER ENDS, AND SAID RING BEING ELASTIC. 